Month: July 2015

Odin is one of the most popular of the Norse gods, often considered to be a father figure among the other gods. Odin is the god of wisdom, knowledge and education, in his quest for everlasting knowledge Odin sacrificed one of his eyes for everlasting wisdom. The well known Norse underworld, Valhalla is ruled by Odin, who selects warriors killed in combat to reside in his great halls. Odin is able to travel through the different realms where he continues his quest to gain and spread knowledge (much like Matt and myself on our WABL journey…. just on a much greater scale).

Odin is also a pretty great place to grab some lunch and a beer. We stopped by on a Sunday afternoon for lunch and I have to say, I was pretty pleased with the whole experience. Coming from a Scandinavian background, I tend to automatically like anything with a Norse theme, so I was predisposed to like Odin.

We sat down and ordered a couple beers while we checked out the menu. Odin specializes in barbecue, and they specialize well. All the meat is smoked on site, its fresh, the portions are generous and it tastes amazing. Since our primary goal for the outing was lunch, I would have been pleased with this place even if the beer was bad, luckily it was not.

I started with the Grapefruit Wrath, a refreshing and light pale ale. Matt started with the Sheild Maden, another pale ale that he gave a very high rating to on untapped. Since we were there for lunch on a Sunday, and we were trying to be somewhat responsible, we kept the drinking a little light and followed up our lunch beers with a couple of schooners. On the recommendation of the bartender, and my very wise boyfriend, I tried the S.M.A.S.H Drop, a seasonal ale. It was delicious, if you see this on tap anywhere, you should order it. Matt finished up the outing with a schooner of Odin’s Gift Amber, which he rated above average.

Odin is a newer establishment having recently moved into this taproom. The taproom is pretty open, but sitting at the bar we found ourselves chatting with both the bartender and another patron. There is a large TV on the wall, and I think this would be a great place to watch a game, or in the case of our visit, an episode of Dr Who (not complaining). After lunch we went out to the patio where Matt continued to try to coach me through a game of corn hole. It was a really nice stop for lunch and I have no doubt that we will be back in the very near future.

There we were, face to face with the illustrious flying lion. We circle each other, I’m gazing into the soul of the immortal flying lion. I stab left, the flying lion shifts. He claws at my face, I scramble to my side, barely avoiding death. We are at an impasse. Either not sure what the next move should be. So I do something brave and risque, I order a pint. A delicious pint. The Flying Lion obliges. We sit down and talk. We aren’t enemies, but friends in the journey that is life.

I have much to write about Flying Lion Brewing. And all of it is good. Before we get to the beer, lets talk about the brewery and brewer. Occasionally, I come across a brewery and think to myself, “Oh come on”. The brewery has been open for about the year, and the brewer Griffin is in his mid 20s. Yeah, basically everything I’ve wanted to do with my life, he is doing, about 6 years younger. From what he told me, he started homebrewing early, and with a supportive family, they were able to open a brewery in the Columbia City area of Seattle. Good for that guy. Another awesome thing he does it grinds all his grain via bike. Most breweries either have their own mill, or have places like Larrys Homebrew in Kent do it for him. But being in his 20s and full of energy, Griffin does it himself. Amazing.

Now lets get to the beer. I’m a huge fan of the brewery. The beer is really good, but you can find great beer almost everywhere. What makes the brewery is the feel of it and getting to talk to the brewer. He has such a passion for his craft and loves it, and as odd as it sounds, you can taste the passion and love in the beer. Think of it has your moms home cooking, it is the love that makes it better.

Now I’ve had most of the beers here, and I like em all. The single hop pale and the IPA were my highest rated beers. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the amber, but it was more cause it wasn’t my style of amber. I like mine with a lot of body, it was just lacking a bit, but I know many people will love it.

When it comes down to it, this brewery will make my top 10 of Seattle area. Which will be posted about 40 breweries into the journey. If you are in the area, I highly suggest stopping by Flying Lion and stop by Spinnaker. They are right next to year other and worth it. (We haven’t reviewed Spinnaker yet, cause Sam hasn’t been there, but I have….shhhhhh)

In an effort to mix things up before a Mariners game, we decided to skip Pyramid and try out a new brewery. Two Beers is located a couple of miles away from the stadium, not quite close enough to walk to Safeco, but close enough to stop in before a game, sit down, and have a beer before a game.

Since we were on our way to a game we only grabbed a couple of beers and some food off the truck nearby. The first beer I tried was an ISA which was… not my favorite. This beer gets a pretty decent rating on untapped which leads me to believe something might have been wrong with the keg or the line, I have not tried it since but I would be willing to give it another shot. The next beer I tried was the X6 IPA, which I really liked. On another visit a few weeks later, I tried the Day Hike Pale which I also really enjoyed. I tend to judge a brewery based on its Pale Ales and IPAs and I would say that Two Beers passes this test.

Two Beers is a nice brewery. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the staff was friendly. There was a food truck outside selling meatball subs. It was a nice way to start off a game and we have been back there since.

After our stop at Grove Street Matt, Lupa and I hopped back in the Fiat, finding ourselves still a good way away from home we decided to make another stop in Olympia at Three Magnets. I had not heard of Three Magnets and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t realize we were going to another brewery until we stepped inside so needless to say, we were pretty green to this place. Three Magnets almost feels like two establishments in one, there is a restaurant side and a bar side. The establishment is warm and welcoming but still feels fresh and modern. The restaurant side includes picnic tables and a couple window seats. You can also check out the side room with barrels of aging beers. Down a short hallway you come to the bar side which, well, feels like a bar version of the restaurant. The bar area includes a patio that’s not bad on a sunny day.

We entered through the restaurant side and ordered a couple samplers, we had to order two in order to try all the beers on tap (yay! variety!).The beer is well above average. I particularly enjoyed the 3MAG Rain IPA and the Smoked English Porter. Matt liked the Big Juice Double IPA and the Old Skook Barleywine. If you are making this journey with a friend, enemy, acquaintance, or any other drinking buddy type person, I’d suggest splitting a couple samplers and trying everything on tap.

I also should point out the food here. We tried to order about three appetizers before we came to one that wasn’t sold out after the long weekend, but settling for deep fried cheese curds was a compromise I was ultimately willing to make. I liked this brewery, I’d even suggest making a special trip to Olympia to check out their breweries, piers, and eclectic street crowd if you find yourself free on a Saturday.

Alas, we arrive in Shelton. Shelton is one of the last towns before you go into the Olympic Peninsula. And because of that, it a risky and dangerous town. Outlaws rule the streets, vagabonds litter the sidewalks, and princes and kings rule with an iron fist. Because of that, we decided we need to get off the main drag and hit up Grove Street. Grove street is the place to be in Shelton. That being said, Grove Street may be the only place I feel safe in Shelton.

After a long weekend of drinking and having fun. Sam and I decided to hit up Grove Street on our way home. Oddly enough, we ended up hitting even more breweries up after this, but that’ll be another day. Grove Street has an odd feel to it. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, and it necessarily isn’t a bad thing, but I couldn’t get a feel of what the theme was. Grove Street brewhouse uses a tree as their logo and they have a brown/green layout of the brewery, but they could have rolled with it more. But who cares about the feel of the brewery, lets talk the beer. Sam got the sampler and I got their IPA and Red Rye. Grove Street usually keeps 7-8 beers on tap, which is awesome, since I love variety. I rated the two beers I had above average. I enjoyed them, but they didn’t blow me away. Sam has about the same feeling. If I lived in the Shelton area, I’d hit up this place all the time, since I did enjoy their beers, but I wouldn’t travel there. But if you are driving on 101 north, why not stop and support a local Shelton brewery. They have plenty of beers, you’ll like one of them.

I swear the logo of the brewery is in the picture. Next stop 3 Magnets Brewing!